TrumpetBoy
Trumpets, Music, Gadgets, Web Dev. and any other nonsense I feel like mentioning…
Posts tagged gigs
Mucho Airport Time!
Apr 24th
I’m writing this at 6.30am in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on the way back from my most recent excursion with “Rat Pack – Live At The Sands” US tour. Life has been really crazy lately with more travelling than I would have thought I’d ever do. Running backwards and forwards between UK and US Tour dates is certainly exhausting!
It’s been a good trip this time despite a couple of changes from the normal routine. Andy Rumble, our musical director, was away on another gig this time so we had the show’s Musical Supervisor; Matthew Freeman with us in his place. He likes to run things a little differently from Andy so it was trying at times but we were lucky to have some very fine musicians joining us in Grand Rapids, MI and Hershey, PA. A particular joy for me was the presence of two former Harry James bandsmen in Hershey. I was privileged to have trumpeters Skip Stine and Bill Hicks on the section with me. They both played Lead Trumpet on the Harry James band at various times during the 70s and were able to offer a little personal insight into one of the greatest trumpet players of all time! I should also give a shout to Mark Lusk, who played Bass Trombone in Hershey; a thoroughly nice guy and a wonderful player. He previously played on the Woody Herman Band in it’s last incarnation under Woody’s baton along with my most recent teacher; the formidable Roger Ingram.
We’re back to UK dates for the next week and a half although I’m taking a break from “The Pack” to go on a short tour in Austria with the wonderful trumpeter Thomas Gansch and his band. I’m sure much fun will be had, much beer consumed and many photos taken. The photos, at least, I’ll be able to share on here and I’ll try to keep up with that upon my return. It’ll be a busy few days which see me heading to Southampton on Wednesday for the show, on to Vienna on Friday (early) morning, back to Leeds on the following Wednesday and then up to Edinburgh in time for a Thursday matinee. I then finish out the week in Edinburgh before returning to Cleveland to play the last fortnight on the US Tour.
Life, as you can see, is crazy right now so apologies for the recent lack of posting and I’ll try to get back on top of it when I get back to just touring in one country for a while in the summer!
Ice Skating?
Jun 1st
Ice Skating?
Southport – home of the grimmest Ice Skating rink in the world.
Uploaded by tptboy on 1st June, 2006.
I was working in Southport the other day. Though I was prepared for it to be a fairly grim place, I was surprised by the high quality of the recreational facilities!!!
Life Outside The Rat Pack!?!
Feb 22nd
It’s been a good week or so touring around Denmark so far. The show has been well received and, despite long hours on the bus, everybody seems to be getting along ok! The heartening thing for me has been glimpses of life outside of the tour. I’ve had a few communications with home that mean I’ll have some other things to do to break up the grind of playing the same show for months on end.
The other day I was pleased to receive a call from AlmeidaGirl herself. Kirsty called to ask when I was around to go into the studio with Descarga and record the new CD. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while and it seems like it’ll happen in a couple of months time. Watch this space for more details!
I heard from my good friend Tony Faulkner yesterday. He’s planning to reform and record his Jazz Orchestra in the summer. I used to play in his LCM band when I was at college and the writing is terrific. I understand that he’s written some new charts and wants to put them down with “a decent band”. I’m honoured to be included in that! I’ve had the good fortune to have Tony play in my Quintet for the last few gigs we’ve had and he’s been great to have around. It’s sometimes a little strange to work with your former teachers but Tony has always treated me as a peer, something for which I’m most grateful!
Finally, I ran across an announcement on the Jazz In Leeds Forum from my friend Colin Byrne. He started his own Jazz Orchestra last year which I unfortunately wasn’t around to participate in. Nevertheless, he’s just released the bands debut CD and launched a new website. I wish him the best of luck and I hope to have a chance to play with the band sometime. Check it out at BigBandByrne.com!
Back on the Road.
Jan 11th
On Saturday night we finished the Rat Pack at Christmas show at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham. It was a great run and I’d like to thank all the guys in the band for making it so pleasant. Special thanks go to Gerry Freeman (drums) and all the folks in Trumpet section; John Ruddick and Georgina Bromilow, and their deps: Dave Ford, Kevin Wedrychowski, Mally Baxter and Kevin Harcourt. Thanks chaps!!
A word of congratulation must also go to Mike Neilson! We were very fortunate to have Mike on our show playing Dean Martin. He’s understudied this role in the West End production for a few years and now, following the departure of Mark Adams, he’s taking over as “Top Turn”. Good for you Mike and thanks for keeping us laughing over the festive season!!
Bright and early on Monday morning I got on a plane back to Germany and have now rejoined the tour group. Yesterday and today we’re at the Stadthalle in Bielefeld; a nice enough town in North-Western Germany. It’s been great to see the guys again after a few weeks apart over Christmas. That said, a little boredom crept in last night as I spent my first night “back in the corner” on 2nd Trumpet. It was much more fun playing Lead in Birmingham.
This week sees a lot of travelling. By next Monday, when we get to Basel in Switzerland to sit down for the week, we’ll have visited Antwerp, Mannheim and Kassel. Consequently, Internet access may be sparse so I may not have much chance to post here. (Still that’s no different to normal!) I hope, however, that the amount of “dead time” on the bus may give me a chance to catch up on some work. I have a couple of projects in mind that I’d like to get on the go soon. More about those in due course…
Right, lunchtime! Let’s hope this publishes properly this time…